This 1960 black and white installment of the newsmagazine “See It Now” produced and edited by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly (Part 1 of 2) presents a behind-the-scenes overview of initial testing for the UGM-27 Polaris missile, a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile, the United States Navy’s first SLBM (TRT: 26:58).

Title card: “Unclassified.” Opening titles: “See It Now Presents The Year of the Polaris” (0:08). Empty missile hatches open on the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) ballistic missile submarine (0:46). Standing aboard the docked craft, Edward Murrow interviews Admiral William Raborn (1:52). Murrow addresses the camera in a medium shot (2:22). A hatch closes. A submarine’s POV as the camera goes underwater (2:43). Inside a submarine, men wearing headphones speak into radio microphones (2:59). Murrow speaks. Open sea, with the subtle outline of a submerged submarine (3:15). A Jupiter missile in transit, preparing for a launch at Cape Canaveral (3:57). Mission Control. A truck transporting a tank of liquid oxygen. Admiral Raborn’s interview continues (4:44). A surfacing nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) (5:17). Hyman G. Rickover of the U.S. Navy. The USS Barbero (SSG-317) prepares and launches an SSM-N-8 Regulus, a ship-and-submarine-launched, nuclear-capable turbojet-powered second generation cruise missile (5:30). Murrow speaks with a model of a submarine in the background (6:27). Admiral Arleigh Burke speaks (6:59). A hydrogen bomb warhead is constructed. Solid fuel is mixed (8:10). Polaris rockets explode during testing (8:54). A swimming pool test shows a model rocket shooting to the water’s surface (9:18). Stanley Burris of Lockheed Martin uses a model to explain air compression during an interview (9:32). A wave is generated in the test pool, simulating real-life conditions (12:00). A montage of test rocket launches (12:38). A nuclear submarine under construction (13:08). Murrow uses the model submarine to show the placement of 16 Polaris launching tubes (13:38). A launching system under development by Westinghouse. A guidance system under construction by General Electric in Massachusetts (13:57). The first Polaris test missile (AX-1) launches from pad 25-A at Cape Canaveral, then explodes in flight (14:55). A second failed launch (AX-2) splits the first and second stages of the rocket (15:41). The AX-3 in a tailspin and the AX-4, also a failure (16:14). AX-6 launches successfully (17:14). Missiles under construction at the Electric Boat Shipyards in New London, Connecticut (17:30). The USS George Washinton is christened and laid down (17:45). A sign: “XN Service Training School.” Naval students in a classroom. Men train using the cutaway model (18:02). Commander James Osborne, skipper of the Washington (18:38). A ship launcher simulator test at Cape Canaveral (19:15). The USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23) launches a Polaris missile (19:45). San Clemente Island. Skin divers jump into the water from a small motorboat and prepare a submerged launch tube (20:25). Inside a subterranean control center. Men on radio headsets initiate a launch sequence. A launch key is inserted into a control panel socket. The block house exterior. A video camera monitor shows fish at the underwater launch site (21:08). A final countdown and a successful launch. Crew members shake hands (23:04). The first Polaris missile launches in slow motion (23:41). Engineers at work (24:23). Gordon Pearson, a civil service employee and manager of the Polaris project, is interviewed by Murrow (25:06). A submarine surfaces (26:37).

“See It Now” was a newsmagazine documentary series broadcast by CBS from 1951 to 1958, created by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly, with Murrow serving as the show’s host From 1952 to 1957, “See It Now” won four Emmy Awards and was nominated three additional times.

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